Chapter 18: How To Find A Home, Sweet Home

"ARRGGH! Watch it, you idiot!" I snapped angrily at Caleb as he adjusted the cast on my hands. I was at his place for the afternoon. I was thinking of staying either with him or with Trent for now. On a more permanent basis, I was thinking of staying with Colonel Marley but for now, I had to think things over. I had yet to bring it up to either of them but I was leaning toward Caleb's. I couldn't stand Trent's brother. All I knew was that I had to get out of my house. I figured that was best for myself. My-fucking-self.

I was still filled with unchecked anger. To be honest, my anger towards her had kept me up most of the night, preventing me from a sleep that at that point, was needed like an IV drip. Whatever anger I had toward him, however, was quickly forgiven. Totally biased, yes, since I liked him in the first place. But you know what? That's the point. Besides, I rarely ever saw him when I was younger so it's most likely not the easiest thing probably to tell some kid "hey I'm your daddy."

She on the other hand was the final straw for me. Finally I had a better reason than "he hits me" to leave that fucking hellhole that is Uncle Ray's house. Later that night I snuck out somehow & made my way to the hospital where I told them I had fallen off a skateboard. They seemed a little skeptical at first but as soon as they patched me up, I quietly, & quickly, left.

"Sorry. I can't believe that guy's your dad though," Caleb said. I was sitting on his bed as he knelt in front of me. "Is he a cool guy?"

I shrugged. "I don't really know if he's 'cool' but he's a better roommate than Ray."

"How?"

I lowered my head toward him, letting him know how dumb of a question that was.

"Oh right, sorry," Caleb smiled.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" I asked as he fiddled with my cast. I had told him that it felt tight & twisted a bit so he had taken it upon himself to adjust it. Under what clue he thought he had he could do it without discomfort for me I don't know. His mom was a nurse. He wasn't.

"Yeah I think so. That better?" he said as he made one last fix.

"Yeah."

"Good."

"Thanks," I said. Seeing him in front of me on his knees got me a bit aroused.

"Rory...I'm not really in the mood to..." he gave me a weird look as he tried to pull away. I kept him in his spot with my leg though.

"Does it look like I'm in the mood? No," I quipped. "I wanna change that. So get to it."

"I don't want to."

I reached out & grabbed a clump of his hair fairly tightly with my fingers. As we cringed & groaned through each of our pains, I leaned toward him.

"I'm not asking," I grinned as I pulled him toward my groin.

He looked up at me & I let go of his hair. He sighed.

I smiled & leaned back.

*****

"Hi mom!" Caleb called as we heard the front door open & close. We were back in the living room playing video games at this point. He had been going easy on me, seeing as I couldn't obviously play as well with my hands impaired. I kept telling him NOT to take it easy on me & he insisted he wasn't. But I knew better. I really didn't like being pitied.

"Hi honey. Hi Rory— oh my gosh, what happened to your hands?" she asked in shock as she took off her coat & put down her things.

"Oh, just fell off my bike," I smiled.

"*Cough* skateboard *cough*," Caleb covered his mouth.

"Er, skateboard I mean."

"Oh, dear, I'm sorry to hear about that. Will you be staying for dinner?"

"Well, actually, uh.." I looked to Caleb & shot a look telling him to ask her about me moving in for a while.

"Oh right. Mom, can I talk to you?" he asked as he got up & lead her away. I continued playing our game until my phone rang.

"Hello."

"Rory...it's me," I heard the Colonel's voice on the other end.

"Hey."

"Where are you? Your mother called me. She said that the school called your house earlier because you didn't show up & because no one told them you wouldn't be in."

"I skipped."

"Why?"

"Is that a serious question?" I huffed.

"Rory where are you? She's worried about you."

"I. Don't. Care," I emphasized each word.

"All right. Then just tell me. Just tell me where you are."

"I'm staying at a friend's house for a while."

"Where does your friend live?"

"Why?"

"Because I just wanna make sure for everyone's sake that your safe."

"I'm at Caleb's. I figured I could be here for a little while. He's talking to his mom about it right now."

"Yeah & if she says no?" he countered.

"Well, that's why I was hoping that maybe you would take me in afterward?" I asked with hope.

He didn't say anything at first. I didn't blame him since I had suddenly just sprung it on him. While I wasn't sure in what other ways he might have been planning on helping me through this, I'm sure that taking me in right away probably wasn't what he had in mind off the bat. After a few uncomfortably quiet seconds, I started becoming worried that maybe he didn't care enough about me to take me in. That fear would have quickly turned to more anger. Fortunately, he was able to awkwardly stammer out a response before my mood became sour.

"Well, let's sit down with your uncle & your m—"

"No!" I said loudly into the phone. Perhaps a little too loudly. I didn't want Caleb's mom to think there was a serious reason to worry if she heard me fighting with someone over the phone.

"What exactly do you wanna do then?" he asked flatly.

"I wanna live with you. I don't need Ray's permission either."

"No, but you need mine."

I felt a small twinge of betrayal from his words, as if he was daring me to officially ask him, again, just so he could say no.

"Are...are you saying you wouldn't take me in?" I asked, afraid to even want to know the answer.

"Rory, let's all get together so we can—"

"No, I want a real answer right now," I said firmly.

He sighed.

"Rory, I would love to have you live here with me. You really ARE the son I never had," he started.

"But," I said quickly.

"But before I say yes, I'd really like us all to sit down & just talk about whatever new arrangements we can make. It's not fair to either of them for you to haul on out of there without even giving them the decent courtesy of explaining why."

"I'm not really in the mood to discuss who's been fair to who, ok?" I scratched my side.

He sighed.

I suppose it was a better answer than I was expecting. It was basically a yes. However, he knew that at this point, it was essentially up to *me* to decide if I wanted to go ahead with his little "family meeting." He was smart, he knew how to bargain, how to negotiate, how to compromise. I guess I knew now where I got my brains from. It certainly wasn't her.

"Well," I said, "my first point would be to never have to be in contact with the two occupants of that house again for as long as I live. Beyond that I don't really have any other requests."

"Let's see how things work out, ok?" he said. "Tomorrow night, come over to my place at 7. The four of us can talk about you moving into my place."

"Fine," I sighed in defeat. Caleb & his mom returned at that point. "I gotta go. And thank you Colonel."

We hung up as I looked over to Caleb & his mother standing in the archway to the living room. Caleb had a big, goofy grin on his face.

"You can stay!" he exclaimed, clasping his hands together. Sometimes the annoying little fucker's queerness seemed to just leak out in buckets.

"Really?" I asked, looking to his mother.

"Oh of course, honey," she smiled warmly, walking over to me & sitting down next to me. "But I need you to tell me something."

"What's that?"

"Are you being hit at home?" she looked at me with concern.

I instantly cracked a smile. "No, Mrs. Denino, I'm not. There's just some other issues going on with people who live there that I really can't stand anymore. Besides, I'm old enough to be on my own at this point."

"Not living at home & being on your own are not the same thing," she rubbed my back comfortably. "But as long as no one is hurting you, you don't need to say anything more to me. You're always welcome here for however long."

"Thanks." I looked up to Caleb. "Hey roommie."

"This is so cool," he beamed, practically bouncing on his feet.

I rolled my eyes. "Well hold on there. Remember, I'm only gonna be here for a little while until Colonel...until Walter can fix up his place so I can live there." Calling the Colonel by his first name was definitely going to take some time getting used to.

"Yeah but still. It's almost like college."

"Pft. I've been to college campuses," I recalled my escapades on a number of different occasions at colleges. "It's really not that similar."

"All right well you boys go off & play," his mom stood up. "Dinner will be ready in about an hour. I'll call you down to set the table."

"Cool," Caleb said, walking over to his mom & giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks mom."

She smiled as she shooed us towards the stairs to head up to Caleb's room. Just then, I felt my phone vibrate. Reaching into my pocket with a cast on isn't as easy as it sounds. But when I finally got my phone, I saw that I had a new text message from Trent.

"I'm horny. Cum meet me under the bridge xD"

"Rory," I heard Caleb's mom call up to me, "do you like mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes better?"

Hmm, I thought. A hot, home-cooked meal...or sex? I looked up to see Caleb's ass in front of me as we headed up the stairs. I figured I could get both here for now on. I ignored Trent's text & followed Caleb up to his room.